


Hyperbole and Paradoxes

by past_memories



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Grad School AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-22
Updated: 2020-02-02
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:35:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22354198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/past_memories/pseuds/past_memories
Summary: Grad School is already a stressful nightmare for Rey Niima but when she gets paired up for a big project with her self-proclaimed archnemesis, Ben Solo, she knows it's only downhill from there.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 7
Kudos: 75





	1. Something Rotten in the State of Denmark

**Author's Note:**

> I'm made about TROS and I've got like ten story ideas so here I come! Most of them are one-shots, but this one got away from me so it's two chapters. If you have a prompt you want to see, comment it or message me on Tumblr (crazy-rain) and I'll do my best at writing it. As always, this is only edited by me and Grammarly so be kind lol. Thank you and I love you all so much!

“Niima and Solo”

“Fuck me gently with a chainsaw” Rey whispered to herself as she watched Professor Skywalker go on with the list of pairs. Hux and Phasma gave each other cordial smiles when they heard their names paired up, but Rey could hardly keep up with the rest of the pairs as she hid her head in her arms crossed on the desk.

“This is a goddamn nightmare. Why do I keep getting paired up with him?!” Rey whispered to herself again grabbing her sweatshirt so hard she was sure she would rip it.

“You’re all going to be debating a particular subject matter,” Luke continued “which I will be choosing from this hat. There are only four different prompts and each group will either argue the negative or the affirmative.”

“So, we’re competing with one another?” Hux asked.

“In a way, yes. You will be graded on the research you do and how well you counter opposing arguments. However, whether or not you win the argument will not play into the final grade. I’d also like to take this moment to remind you all that this is your third and final grade in this class as this will substitute for the final paper.”

“Fucking fantastic” Rey heard someone behind her mutter. She was pretty sure that was Ben but she refused to turn around.

“Okay, first prompt: are fairytales outdated drivel or culturally important stories? Rey and Ben will argue the affirmative,” Rey looked up at the sound of her name “Armitage and Andromeda will argue the negative.”

Rey looked over to see the pair smiling wickedly at her. She had known both Hux and Phasma since undergrad and both had always been ruthless in their need to reach the top. It was rumored that Hux had falsely told professors that some students were cheating just to get the students kicked out. Phasma was sneakier but still determined to be on top; she had once erased the hard drive of one of the other girl’s laptop so that the girl didn’t do better on the final than Phasma.

“We’re so fucked” Rey whispered, putting her head back down. She stayed like that for the rest of the class, too caught up in her own emotions to pay attention. Mostly she just thought about how bad this was going to turn out. Luke just spent the rest of the time going over the confines of the project. Seeing as Rey had already done something like this in another of Luke’s class (where she also happened to be paired with Ben) there wasn’t much use in listening. She knew that the rest of her classmates were looking at her, but just hoped that they thought she was sick. It would be hard to explain to anyone the number of thoughts that were rushing through her head. She could feel her chest beginning to tighten as the anxiety and stress of the semester took hold; Finn had told her at work that she needed to see a counselor about her anxiety. But she didn’t have time for that! Between being a full-time grad student, teaching underclassmen, and working at a coffee shop on the weekend she was booked solid.

“Ms. Niima?” Rey raised her head to see that everyone else had left the classroom and she was left alone. She turned to look at Luke who was standing before her with his packed satchel. “Are you feeling alright?”

“Just tired. You know, the usual.” Rey gave a weak smile as she got up and gathered her things together.

“I’m excited to hear what you come up with for the project. You always have something interesting thing to say.”

“Thank you, sir” Rey replied as they both walked towards the door. Luke was polite enough to hold the door open for her. Luke gave Rey a wave as he turned left to walk towards his office and Rey gave him a wave back before leaving Skywalker Hall of Arts and Letters. She had been nervous freshman year when she found out her professor had his last name plastered on the side of the building. Though, in his defense, it was his father Anakin that had given all the money to the college. Luke and his sister Leia just happened to stick around after Anakin’s death and were now institutions to Alderran University. Leia was the head of the Economics department and was well known within the charity sphere for starting many organizations. Her husband, Han, who had once owned a dinky auto shop in town, was now an adjunct Engineering professor, along with his best friend who’s real name no student knew; he was always called Chewie. Leia and Han’s son was the exact person Rey was currently dreading running into, which is why she knew when she sat down at a table in the student union she knew it was the universe’s deep irony that made Ben Solo plop right across from her.

“How different is your schedule from last semester?” Ben asked, sounding annoyed. Rey noticed how stormy his face looked as he ran his hand across his chin, getting a little distracted by the size of his hand. 

“Work on Saturdays and Sundays again. I teach Monday, Wednesday, and Friday with a full class schedule the rest of the days,” Rey responded, running a hand over her face “What about you?”

“Just about the same. We’ll make Tuesday nights our meet up night where we can exchange the articles and the information we’ve found. Otherwise, I don’t want to see your face.”

And with that, Ben was gone but Rey made sure to flip off his back before he totally disappeared.

*******

“He is so fucking full of it Rose!” Rey paced in front of the old television “He blows me off without so much of a discussion about points of arguments or how we’re going to do this together. No, he just flies away after telling me that he doesn’t want to see me!”

“Rey, I’m sure that-” Rey’s roommate tried to placate, but Rey barely heard.

“And then, he has the fucking AUDACITY to email me three days later with articles he found like I’m a child in need of teaching! Like I don’t know what I’m doing!”

“Rey, the game is on!” Finn whined as he tried to dodge Rey’s pacing.

“And if he expects me to do all the work on this, he is sorely mistaken. I don’t give a shit if his family name is on the side of the goddamn building, he can do his own work!”

“Rey, you and I both know that he’s not going to do that,” Rose said, fixing Rey with a motherly glare. “When has Ben ever not pulled his weight in a project.”

“Well he…umm…”

“That’s right: never! He may be an ass but he’ll do his work. You just need to calm down and find a way to get through this. It’s only one little project.”

“Ugh, why are you always right?” Rey asked as she dramatically laid down on the floor to face the ceiling. Finn let out a quiet ‘yes!’ as he finally got a good look at the television and his team scored. “I just don’t know how I’m going to make it through this.”

“You’ll be fine, you big baby,” Rose gave her an affectionate kick of her foot. “You might

even grow to like him.”

“As if!”

*******

The first Tuesday night meetup was not going well. Rey had shown up to the practically empty library fifteen minutes early than the decided time, getting her laptop set up and looking over the notes she had taken on the articles Ben had sent. Ben showed up twenty minutes late.

“I figured we should include as much evidence as we can, not just from Euro-centric stories. We should at least mention the most famous of those though. I’m assuming you’ve read them all. Grimms, Lang, Anderson, Bur-”

“Please don’t lecture me,” Ben snapped “I’ve read them all.”

“Okay,” Rey rolled her eyes. “We should figure out what time of imagery we want to focus on. I was thinking of using the more adult themes that appear and the oral traditions of all of these stories.”

Ben leaded back in his chair and Rey couldn’t help but feel like she was being studied. She raised her eyebrows and pursed her lips, making it clear that she was waiting for Ben’s answer.

“Do you believe in this shit? This gooey happy ending crap?”

The question took Rey by surprise. “Yeah, don’t you?”

“Absolutely not.”

“How are we supposed to make an argument for something you don’t believe in?!”

“Politicians do it all the time”

“You’re a piece of shit, you know that?”

“I’ve been made well aware of it, yes.”

“I’ll focus on themes and troupes, you focus on the oral tradition,” Rey said, as she got up and grabbed her bag.

“Where are you going?”

“Back you my apartment, jackass. It 11:30 and I still have a lesson plan to create.”

By the time Rey got back to her apartment, it was midnight and she felt like her whole body should melt into her bed. She quickly set the alarm for 5 am to get up and finish her lesson plan and rolled over to sleep. Right as she dozed off, she heard her phone vibrate. She rolled back over and took her phone into her hands. The screen lit up with a text notification from Ben.

_Today 12:31_

I’ll meet you tomorrow for lunch real quick so we can nail the details down since you left the library so quickly.

Rey sent to middle finger emoji back and turned on Do Not Disturb. She went to sleep with a smile on her face

*******

“The younglings can’t write an essay for shit,” Ben said, tossing the essays on the table and taking a seat across from Rey. She quickly wiped the ketchup that had fallen off her burger from her mouth trying her best to hid it from Ben. She wasn’t sure it worked.

“Don’t call the freshman ‘younglings’,” Rey chastised “Besides they can’t be as bad as my Brit Lit kids. Someone asked me today if Shakespeare was the first person to write about zombies because the movie Warm Bodies is based on Romeo and Juliet. They literally thought zombies were in the original story and the setting had just been updated for the movie.”

“It’s astounding that there are people out there who are genuinely this stupid” Ben said as he took out his lunch. It was a simple salad bowl with some chicken mixed it. Rey felt self-conscious about her lunch choice of a burger and fries, but before she could get too into her head about it, Ben leaned over and stole a fry.

“Hey!” Rey smacked Ben’s hand, but the deed was already done. Ben’s reply was to wordlessly shrug as he ate the fry, looking immensely proud of himself.

“Did you look into the oral tradition of fairy tales?”

“Yes, ma’am. I figure we can structure out argument around the idea that fairytales are something innately human, that they transcend time and geography. We could bring up the fact that each culture has a common variation, like Cinderella stories and so forth; bring up the fact that we still have stories today that fit those common archetypes.”

“How late were you up researching this?”

“Why do you assume this isn’t something I came up with on my one because of my natural aptitude?” Ben smirked.

“Because I know you too well. So how long were you up?”

“I went to bed at 4 AM,” Ben replied sheepishly. “However, I’d like to think I found some really good articles and I have a great outline coming together.”

“You need to get more sleep, Solo.”

“I could say the same thing for you, Niima.”

Rey rolled her eyes and gestured to Ben’s salad bowl that was still sitting there untouched. “Eat up. There are only about fifteen minutes before we need to leave for class.”

Ben impishly stuck his tongue out but ate his food anyways. He finished just in time for both of them to gather their belongings and leisurely walk towards the Skywalker building.

“When’s the next chance you have to meet up?” Ben asked as they walked through the front door. Rey noticed that he held the door open for her and she felt her heart rate pick up as she got a whiff of his cologne. It smelled good; musky, earthy, just very Ben.

“I won’t be free again until Sunday night.”

“Okay, I’ll try and make Sunday.”

Throughout the rest of the week, Rey hardly saw Ben but when she did he always gave her a friendly little wave. Rey wasn’t sure why but it always caused her heart to flutter. That Sunday night Rey went to the library feeling a little excited. She told herself it was just because she was very interested in the subject matter, but a part of her knew she was excited to see Ben again. Rey stayed there all night until it closed early Monday morning. Ben never came.

*******

Rey’s Monday morning classes went the same as they always did, teaching the underclassmen and catching a quick nap in one of the study rooms during her lunch hour. She didn’t see Ben around the campus, but if she was truthful with herself, she did her best to stay out of the public places around campus. She hid in one of the alcoves at the library after her afternoon class to try and take notes on the project for Luke.

‘Ben might not give a shit, but I do’ she thought. By 6 o’clock the sun had been down for at least an hour and Rey felt like her eyes were going to fall out of her head. She could feel the familiar tension of a headache coming on and the beginning symptoms of a cold that was probably due to her lack of sleep. She trudged across campus and back to her apartment, plopping herself down on the old couch and turning her phone on for the first time since she had left the library much earlier that morning. She had seven missed calls and several messages from Ben.

_Today 5:13 am_

I’m so sorry

_Today 5:30 am_

Rey we need to talk

_Today 6:00 am_

Please answer me

_Today 11:35 am_

Can we get lunch together? I want to talk to you about last night

_Today 1:42 pm_

We have to talk about this eventually. We still have the project to work on

_Today 4:17 pm_

Please

“Fuck” Rey whispered to herself quietly as she wiped away tears that had fallen on her cheeks. She could almost hear the desperate way Ben would have whispered the words to her, pleading with her. “Get out of your head! He’s probably just worried about his grades.” But Rey couldn’t shake the feeling that wasn’t right. She was used to being alone but, for some reason, Ben standing up her study session had hurt more than she thought it would. Rey turned her phone off again before she could imagine more of Ben just as Finn and Rose walked through the door.

“Hey peanut, we brought Chinese home!” Finn said, carrying in a large bag full of Styrofoam containers “I got you lo mein, your favorite.”

“Thanks” Rey smiled weakly, taking the food from Finn’s hand.

“You okay?” Rose asked, setting herself besides Rey with her own container of food.

“Yeah, just tired. I was up late working on my presentation for Skywalker’s class last night.” Rey replied, running her hand over her face before taking a giant bite of her food.

“Is that dickhead Ben Solo pulling his weight?” Finn asked, settling on the other side of Rose.

“Yeah, it’s just hard to meet up with him since we both have such busy schedules.” Rey wasn’t sure why she didn’t tell her friends about Ben missing their study session. She didn’t want to have to explain why it made her so upset. Besides, he had just missed one night. It wasn’t like he had to tell her when he was going to miss a meeting. He had his own life to worry about.

The rest of the dinner was spent in comfortable silence as they all ate their dinners and watched some random sitcom that Finn had gotten into recently. Rose and Finn kept laughing but Rey was feeling too melancholy to get into the show. She was sure on any other day it would work but she could feel herself getting too far into her own thoughts.

‘Should I turn my phone back on? Should I call him? I’m sure it was nothing, I’m sure it didn’t matter.’ Rey thought.

“Well?” Rose asked, breaking Rey out of her reflections.

“What?”  
“I asked you a question silly,” Rose teased “What has gotten into you today?”

“Oh, I think I’m coming down with a cold,” Rey said. “What was your question?”

“I just wanted to know if you were up for another episode,” Rose asked.

“I’m actually not feeling you well so I’ll be heading to bed.”

Rose and Finn told her to get better and Rose reminded Rey that there was cold medicine in the cabinet. Rey got dressed in her pajamas quickly and padded off to the bathroom to brush her teeth. She stared at the lean pale face staring back at her, noting that her eyes were bloodshot. She took a shot of the Nyquil and went back to her bedroom hearing the sounds of her friends chatting in the living room. She fell asleep the moment her head hit the pillow.


	2. Doubt truth to be a liar; But never doubt I love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! Sorry, this took longer than I anticipated, work has been kicking my butt. I realized halfway through writing this chapter that I might actually have to find academic articles about fairytales, and I gotta be honest, I was not feeling that lol. Thank you to everyone who has read this story, let alone left kudos or commented. It really means a lot! I hope you enjoy!

Rey woke up Tuesday with a fever and a disgusting cough that she was pretty sure made it sound like she was dying. She texted Rose and Finn to pick her up some soup on their lunch breaks and then made sure to email her professors and made sure to send her class their assignments before going back to sleep. She didn’t hear her phone buzz over and over again but she did wake up to a ringing cell phone at 2 pm in the afternoon.

“Hello?” Rey could barely hear her own voice through her clogged ears but she was positive it sounded weird.

“Rey?” Ben said softly.

Rey wasn’t sure if the chills were from her fever or the way he said her name. “What?”

“I’m sorry about Sunday, I shouldn’t have left you there-”

“I’m glad you’re apologizing,” Rey interrupted “But I’ve got to be honest, it’s hard for me to concentrate right now with my fever. I should probably take some more medicine”

There was a pause on the other end of the line that Rey felt lasted years, but that probably had more to do with the way the room was spinning and how heavy her eyes felt.

“That’s why you missed class?”

“Yeah,” Rey said, “What other reason would I have?”

“I don’t know. I thought you might be avoiding me.”

“You think very highly of yourself,” Rey replied, teasing him a little.

“Alright, I deserved that,” Ben replied and she was glad to hear that his voice had lost some of it’s melancholy. “Where do you live?”

‘What?!”

“Your address, dumbass. I’d like to know it so I can bring you some soup and hopefully make up for Sunday” was Ben’s surly response. “That is if you’ll let me. I don’t want to intrude, it’s okay if you say no.”

“Nah it’s fine,” Rey replied. She would tell herself later that it was the haze of a fever that made her give Ben her address but if she was being honest it was the thought of seeing him again. She went out to the living room to make sure that she would hear the knock on the door. She was planning on changing out of her t-shirt and sweatpants that she was positive were at least partially covered in snot, but she fell asleep on the couch before that could happen. She wasn’t sure how long she was there, but a knock sometime later woke her up.

“I’m coming,” she grumbled wrapping a blanket around her body so she looked like a burrito with a face sticking out. She opened the door to find Ben standing there with a grocery bag full of soup in his hand and his backpack slung on the other shoulder. Rey saw the edge of his lips quirk up at the sight of her in her blanket.

“So I’m going to be bullied inside my own house?” Rey teased, trying not to notice how well his black t-shirt gripped his muscles under his jacket. 

“Fuck you, Niima this project is most of our grade,” Ben replied, leaning on the doorframe. Rey did her best not to notice how he filled the whole space; she did not succeed at this.

“I’m fucking diseased, you asshole.”

“Which is why I brought you soup, asshole,” Ben said lifting the bag up. “May I come in now?”

Rey shuffled out of the door frame to give Ben room to get through. He went immediately to the kitchen and began rifling around.

“Bottom drawer by the dishwasher,” Rey said, sitting back down on the couch where she could both recline and keep an eye on Ben. He hummed in response, opening the drawer to get a can opener and began making one of the soups. While he waited for the pot to boil he gently placed his boots by the door and came over to the couch to sit by Rey. Before she could react he gently placed his hand on her forehead.

“What the fuck are you doing?”

“Checking your fever” Ben replied, looking anywhere except for her face. Rey noticed that the tips of his ears were pink. She was pretty sure it was from the cold. “You should go take some ibuprofen if you haven’t.”

Ben slowly lowered his hand, ghosting his hand over Rey’s cheek as he did. “I should probably check on the soup now,”

“Okay, I’ll go take the medicine,” Rey whispered, feeling like she was in a trance. Ben got up to go to the kitchen and his absence made her feel cold. She carefully padded to the bathroom, but she came back she stopped just shy of the kitchen. There was something she found so comforting watching Ben in her kitchen, she realized. It was like he belonged there, or more accurately, that he belonged anywhere close to her.

‘Stop right there, do not think that.’ Rey thought, nodding to him when he found the right draw for spoons and staring at the strip of his midriff that appeared when he reached his arms up to get the bowls. ‘He does not fulfill that roll in his life.’

“Soups ready,” Ben said, handing Rey a steaming bowl of chicken noodle soup. The warmth felt so good on her face that Rey unconsciously leaned over it, taking it all in.

“I could kiss you,” Rey whispered as she walked back over to the couch. Since her back was turned she missed how red Ben’s face went. When he had recovered, he poured himself a bowl of soup and sat down next to Rey.

“So, the project-”

“I have been sick for two goddamn days!” Rey laughed. “Just let me relax.”

“Yes, which means we are two days behind!” Ben teased.

“Why are you always so awkward?”

“I don’t know how to talk to people. I’ve never really had many friends.” Ben answered truthfully. The truth of his loneliness hadn’t hurt for a while, but there was still a memory of the ache in his chest when he thought of himself as a child.

“You don’t have any friends.” Rey teased.

“Accurate but rude!” Ben said with fake outrage, a large smile on his lips.

“Fine then, I’ll be your friend.” Rey laughed, taking his hand and giving it a quick squeeze. That time Rey did see Ben’s face go red. Her smile widened and she only let go when a coughing fit came over her.

“Eat more soup,” Ben said gently.

The rest of the meal was spent in comfortable silence. Rey had to admit that this whole situation had made her feel a lot better, at least mentally. She always got into a fit of self-pity whenever she got sick, but this had staved it off, at least for now. She knew somewhere in her mind that Finn and Rose would be back soon, which would hold off the inevitable depression, at least for the rest of the day.

“I should be going soon,” Ben said as he got up and went to dump the rest of the uneaten soup down the garbage disposal.

“Wait!” Rey yelled, cringing at how loud it came out. “Put that in a container!”

“Why? There’s not even enough for half a bowl.”

“Just…please.”

Ben gave her an odd look but did as she asked. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow if you feel better tomorrow. You should go back to sleep.”

“You are not in charge of me,” Rey said, sticking her tongue out.

“Please, go to sleep,”

*******

After their pleasant day where Ben took care of her, Rey thought for sure their library meetings would start going much better. She was wrong.

“You’re an hour late,” Rey snarled. It was the Friday after and Rey had suffered through a very long rest of the week. Her fever had been gone the next day so she went back to her classes. Unfortunately, while she had taken a nice break, her classes had continued. Missing even a day made her feel so behind. Not to mention her freshman class had chosen that day to be incredibly annoying, asking her questions that she had already answered at least three times. Her annoyance had only multiplied as she sat there waiting for Ben to meet her.

“Are we seriously doing this right now?!” Ben whispered fiercely doing his best to avoid glares from the librarian as he sat down. “I should have texted but-”

“When else would we be doing this except right as it happens?” Rey whispered back 

“Why does it matter? I’m here now!”

“I deserve to know why you’re late!” Rey shot back “Why are you being so goddamn secretive?”

“You’re one to talk! I asked you one question the other day about throwing away food and you flipped out!” This outburst earned Ben a glare and a loud shush from the librarian.

“Can we have this conversation somewhere else?”

“Fine!” Ben shot back, fiercely pointing to a small study room at the library entrance. Rey gave a tight nod, gathering all of her things and taking them to the room. Ben followed closely behind. Ben made sure he shut and locked the door before continuing on in his normal voice.

“You go first!” Rey said. Ben scowled but before he could respond Rey continued “You owe it to me because your secret affects our grade!”

“Yeah well…I had my reasons!”

“You’re stalling!”

Ben pursed his lips, mulling the decision over.

“This conversation does not leave this room.”

“Deal”

Be stood there in silence, looking more and more uncomfortable by the second. Finally, he cracked. “I was late because I’ve been looking after my dad.”

“What?!” Rey said, a little too loudly. She never in a million years thought the reason would have anything to do with Han. Ben frantically shushed her and went to the window in the door to check and see if they had disturbed anyone. When he was satisfied, he turned back towards Rey.

“I was looking after my dad. He’s been having some heart problems lately and my mom is so busy with meetings and all that so I’ve been taking him to his doctor appointments and watching him in my free time. Luke and Chewie pitch in when I’m too busy but I try to be there as often as I can.” Ben ran his hand through his hair, sitting down at the table in the small room. Rey joined him on the other side.

“That first night I was late because my dad forgot to take his pill,” Ben continued. “And that Sunday night I missed because my dad started having trouble breathing and I had to take him to the hospital.” Ben refused to look at Rey in her eyes as he said all this, instead choosing to stare at his folded hands. “I’ve been staying at their house off and on because it’s just easier but I don’t sleep very well, so that night just really took it out of me and I forgot to text you before I went to bed…So yeah, that’s why I’ve been late.”

They both sat there in a moment of silence that seemed to stretch to eternity. Finally, Ben sheepishly looked up at Rey to find that her expression had softened. Ben could feel his heart rate increase as his eyes connected with hers. He loved the way her eyes twinkled under the florescent lights and how he could practically count all her freckles. He knew that he could not deal effectively with the sense of intimacy that seemed to have descended over the room. So he did what Solo men did best; he panicked.

“Okay, your turn!” Ben said, louder than he meant to.

Rey heaved a sigh and leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms over his midsection like a sort of protection. “I didn’t let you throw the soup away because I grew up in foster care and sometimes…sometimes meals weren’t as readily available as they should have been.”

“Were you…” Ben wasn’t quite sure how to gently put it into words.

“No, I wasn’t abused. But one of my placements was very negligent and would forget to buy food sometimes. His name was Plutt and he would get drunk all of the time, but we lived so far out in the middle of the desert that there wasn’t really anyone to notice it. I was lucky, I had teachers that looked out for me, who bought me lunch. And I’ve gone to therapy for it, I’m fine now. But I still can’t throw food away, even if there is barely anything left. That kind of hunger is something you never forget.”

“Does anyone else know?”

“I’ve told Finn and Rose I had a rough childhood. Of course, most of my teachers and some of the professors have an inkling but you’re the first person I’ve told the whole story to.”

“Thank you,” Ben said, unsure what the proper thing to say to someone after they revealed a deeply personal secret. 

“You could have told me about your dad, you know,” Rey said gently. 

“He didn’t want anyone to know, said they would all worry about him too much,” Ben explained. “And I just thought if I didn’t tell anyone it would mean that I had it handled.”

“You don’t have to shoulder it alone though.” Rey said, placing her hand tenderly over his “I’m here for you. Just let me know what you need.”

“Thanks”

“You’re not alone, okay?”

“Neither are you.”

*******

Rey had screamed when the text came in from Ben asking her to have a movie night and was only slightly relieved when he clarified that it was for the project. He said he thought it might help them find visual troupes. She had changed her outfit three times before leaving the apartment, deciding that she was just going to give up and be comfortable. Thankfully, neither Finn nor Rose were there to tease her. She was proud that she barely panicked on the subway over to his apartment but almost turned around when the building was very modern. It even had a doorman. Rey didn’t have enough time to figure out how the fuck Ben afforded this place because she was already in the elevator and soon enough, at the door. She gave a small knock and Ben answered it almost immediately.

“Everything in your apartment is black,” Rey stood there awkwardly in the doorframe to Ben’s apartment.

“I’m sorry everything isn’t covered in mismatched floral patterns!” Ben said defensively as he locked the door behind Rey.

“We found them at a garage sale!” Rey said.

“That’s why none of them match!” Ben teased as he pulled bags of popcorn out of his cabinet. Rey put her bag down by the door and kicked her shoes off while dragging her sweatshirt over her head. She turned to see that Ben was standing there, watching her as the popcorn cooked in the microwave.

“What?”

“You look nice,” Ben smiled. Rey looked down at her old stained leggings and large shirt that she had gotten for free at a basketball game. She hadn’t felt nice when she walked in but Ben had said it with such conviction that she believed him.

“Thanks,” Rey laughed. They stood there smiling at each other until the microwave went off. Ben carefully took it out and emptied the bag into a plastic bowl. He plopped down on the couch and Rey sat next to him, trying her best not to invade his personal space, though it was hard on the small couch. Rey felt like she was practically hanging off the armrest.

“What are you doing?” Ben gave her a weird look.

“I didn’t want to make you feel uncomfortable,” Rey explained

“Rey, this couch is tiny; just sit down normally.”

“Okay,” Rey said, relaxing back into the couch. Rey grabbed a handful of popcorn to distract her from the feeling of Ben’s thigh next to hers.

‘You’re like a goddamn Regency lady, pull it together!’ Rey thought, sure that she looked like a rabid horse as she shoved the popcorn into her mouth. Ben didn’t seem to notice, which made Rey relax a bit. Ben took the remote and turned on the first movie. Rey wasn’t sure how it happened, but by the time the first movie was almost over she was sitting with her legs in Ben’s lap and a very comfortable blanket over them.

*******

“You went to a movie night? At his apartment?!” Rey had tried to be very quiet opening her apartment door, in case Rose and Finn were asleep. It turned out that her intentions didn’t matter because both of them were up waiting for her.

“It was for the project okay? We watched fairytale adaptions to see if any physical troupes that appeared across the board.” Rey said, turning her face away from Finn so he couldn’t see her blush. It didn’t work.

“You went to his apartment on a Saturday!” Finn’s voice seemed to be getting higher and higher to prove his point. “Do you know what that means?!”

“It doesn’t mean-”

“It means you like him!” Finn yelled, pointing a finger accusatorily at Rey.

“That’s not what it means!”

“Babe, I love you,” Rose said from the couch “but you are so in love with this man it’s not even funny.”

“I am not!”

“You haven’t stopped talking about him for weeks now,” Finn said, “If I have to hear one more time how much you love his smiles I’m going to scream!”

“We have a project due!”

“Hux and Phasma are teamed up too and they aren’t eye-fucking each other constantly!” Rose said.

“I don’t need to hear this!” Rey said.

“How many times tonight did you look at his ass?”

Rey blanched as Finn threw his head back and laughed. “I bet she took a peek at least five times!”

“I’m to bed, you assholes,” Rey said, making her way down the hallway. “I don’t want to hear any more of this.”

“You’ll have to tell him eventually!” Rose yelled from the couch as Rey slammed her door.

*******

Rey almost spit out her coffee when Ben showed up in a suit on the day of their presentation. “What are earth are you doing?” Rey asked, feeling incredibly underdressed in her jeans and sweater.

“I thought I should look nice for our big day.” Ben smiled down at her, making her heart skip a beat. “Also, I knew it would piss Hux off.”

They both looked over to see the redhead glowering at them as he got his notes together. Phasma was sitting next to him, looking cool and collected like always, but she did make sure to throw one glare over her shoulder at Ben and Rey. Ben smirked back, plopping down in the seat next to Rey.

“How you feeling?”

“A little nervous” Rey answered honestly, not quite sure if she was talking about the project of the fact that she was finding it very difficult to keep her eyes off of Ben.

“Don’t worry, we’ll do great.” Ben took her hand, giving it a quick squeeze. Rey thought about telling him there and then that she had a massive crush on him but Luke Skywalker walked through the door at that exact moment.

“Afternoon class!” He said, putting his books and notes on the desk at the front of the room. “Are both groups ready to go today? I’m only asking as a formality because you’d better be ready.” He laughed good-naturedly at his own joke and picked up a notebook. “Both groups come down to the front, I’ve taken another podium from Professor Holdo’s classroom for you to use. I’ll sit over here and take notes.”

Luke sat down in the front row and gestured for each group to stand by a podium. The discussion started out pleasant, with each group arguing their case. But then they got to the debate part of the project and the pleasantries fell away quickly when Hux insinuated that every person who still read fairytales was a childish baby who needed to seek psychological help. Phasma insinuated nothing, stating outright that fairytales were derivative and holding society back from creating meaningful stories.

“Fairytales are based in the oral tradition which means they are the first stories humans ever created,” Rey said, calmly interrupting Hux. “They are fundamental to our human existence and are one of the first-ever avenues for human creativity.”

“Yes, but we should focus on creating new stories, not stealing from old ones,” Phasma argued back.

“What new stories?” Ben countered. “Nothing comes from nothing and there is nothing new under the sun. Stories take elements and share troupes across time and cultures. While some stories take direct inspiration, thousands of others take elements and troupes from fairytales and myths. Take ‘Lord of the Rings’ for example; Tolkien was an English professor who took inspiration for Anglo Saxon myths. Even Shakespeare, one of the best writers in the English language, didn’t come up with his own stories.”

Hux scoffed but didn’t come up with a counter-argument. Phasma looked like she was about to say something, her sneer in place as she opened her mouth but Luke clapped his hands together.

“I’m afraid that’s all the time we have today, class dismissed.” The students began putting their notebooks away and filing out the door. Rey went to get her stuff, still feeling the adrenalin coursing through her veins. She felt like she was seconds from bouncing off the walls of the classroom. She turned to find Ben had been cornered by Luke, an unreadable expression on both there faces. Ben was leaning down, listening to whatever is was Luke was telling him in a hushed tone. Rey looked around and seeing that the classroom was empty except for the three of them, decided to wait for Ben outside. She was sure whatever it was he was discussing with Luke was family-related and therefore none of her business. She sat texted Finn and Rose that her presentation had gone well before scrolling through other apps on her phone, trying to make time pass. She sat there for twenty minutes before she started to worry. She texted Ben to ask if he was okay, but by the time another fifteen minutes had passed he still hadn’t responded. Rey crept up to the door, placing her ear against it to see if she could hear any voices. Silence. She placed her hand against the door and gave it a gentle push, slowly looking into the lecture hall. It was empty. Now she was really worried. She sent another text to Ben before giving up and calling him. It went straight to voicemail.

*******

“He hasn’t responded yet,” Rey said, sitting on the couch and staring down at her phone. She was cradling her phone like it was the most important thing in the world and Rose was getting a little worried that the screen would swallow Rey with how close she was leaning towards the phone. Her nose was practically touching the screening, just waiting for the screen to lit up.

“Something happened, I know it did. He would have responded” Rey said, as Rose and Finn exchanged concerned looks over her head.

“Come on, peanut. I’ll buy you a hot fudge sundae down at Maz’s” Finn said, taking her hand.

“Thanks,” Rey sniffed, placing her phone into her pocket, just in case.

The short walk to the ice cream parlor helped to refresh Rey’s spirits and by the time they got there, Rey was feeling much better. That was until they got into line and she saw Luke Skywalker sitting off to the side. Rey tried to subtly hide behind Finn, but that didn’t work. The second his eyes landed on Rey his face lit up.

“Miss Niima,” Luke said, walking over to them. “I didn’t get the chance to tell you how well you did on your project!”

“Oh umm, thanks. But it was a team effort and I could never have done it without Ben.” Rey said. “Speaking of Ben, did you happen to see him before he left? I wasn’t able to congratulate him this afternoon.”

“Oh, don’t be too hard on Ben, it was just a rough day for him. Han had his heart surgery today and it was decided that Ben wouldn’t know. They didn’t want it messing with his grades. But I accidentally spilled the beans today.”

“Oh my God! Is everything okay!”

“Oh yeah, the surgery went better than anyone would have thought. Han should make a full recovery.”

“Oh, I’m glad,” Rey said, relieved. Both Finn and Rose beside her looked equally relieved. Han was a well-beloved professor across departments and majors.

“Last I heard, Ben went back to his apartment. I’m on the night shift tonight, which is why I’m picking up some ice cream for Leia. She’s going to be very cranky.” Luke laughed, diffusing some of the tension. He stayed in line with them and even offered to buy their ice cream when they got to the front of the line, though Rey refused on grounds that it showed clear favoritism.

“I thought the two of you worked well together, you know,” Luke said as he handed the cashier his money, and turned to leave. “Not to mention my nephew has a giant crush on you.”

“What?!” Rey said, almost dropping her ice cream.

“Yeah,” Luke laughed at her shocked face “he tried to ask me at one point if he could always be your partner through reverse psychology. He’s been dropping hints for ages.”

“I need to go,” Rey said, and before she could do any more thinking she ran out the door and right into the rain, the ice cream still in her hand.

“I’m sorry for her,” Finn said to Luke and their cashier “she’s been going through a lot. I’ll pay for her.

The rain was coming down in sheets but Rey didn’t care. Her thin jacket quickly got soaked but she had a singular thought on her mind: finding Ben. She was glad in the back of her mind that she had a plastic lid on her ice cream, otherwise it would be littering the sidewalk. Rey somehow still remembered the way to Ben’s building. She almost ran into several people getting on and off the subway, three of whom gave her the finger and others that almost poked her eyes out with their umbrellas. She got a lot of weird looks but was so focused on getting to Ben’s apartment that she barely noticed. 

“I’m sorry!” Rey yelled at an elderly lady she almost collided with. Thankfully the small woman was able to catch herself and then proceeded to call Rey a “bitch-ass hoe” for knocking her over. Rey ran into the lobby. After the flurry of activity, the lobby felt like a tomb. There was a cough somewhere to her left and Rey turned to look at the doorman.

“Um…I’m here to see Ben.”

The doorman nodded as if to say ‘that’s not really my business, I’m a doorman’ and Rey made her way over to the elevators in a trance. She didn’t remember pressing the button for Ben’s floor but as she felt the elevator start up the panic set in.

“What the fuck am I doing?!” Rey whispered, starting to wring her hands together “Who does this? He probably won’t want to see me, I should go down…but I need to know he told Luke he had a crush on me and I can’t know that if I don’t ask him which would require me to make it to his door which means I have to stay in this elevator-this elevator is pretty nice. I don’t even feel it going up it just feels so smooth, not like the elevator at my place. The elevator at my place is probably broken or at least condemned. I should ask the landlord about that but I don’t want to piss him off and then he’ll kick us all out and, god I am so wet. I should have gotten an umbrella and oh god I should not have come and-”

The doors of the elevator opened.

“Well, I got this far.” Rey slowly walked out, turning towards Ben’s door. Rey felt like time was slowing down, but she found herself knocking on the door.

Rey almost lost her nerve when Ben opened it with his hair all ruffled.

“Rey? What are you-”

“Did you ask your uncle to put us together on projects because you have a crush on me?” Rey said, vomiting the words out.

The surprised face Ben made would have been the cutest thing Rey had ever seen if she wasn’t trying so hard not to be nervous. Rey watched as Ben’s face went red as he tried to explain.

“What? That’s-why would I even-is that even ethical? I would not-”

Rey grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him down, smashing her lips into his. There was a moment of hesitation on Ben’s part before fully reciprocating. He wrapped his arms around Rey’s back as she titled her chin to deepen the kiss. Ben’s tongue touched her lower lip, asking permission for entrance. She gave it willingly. Rey moaned into Ben’s mouth as he lifted her off the ground and she wound her legs around him, placing her aching core on his abdomen.

“Do you have ice cream in your hand?” Ben asked, breaking the kiss.

“It’s a long story. I’ll put it in your freezer and get it later.”

Ben smiled against her lips before going back to kissing her. He brought his hand up to cradle her neck as he slowly walked backward, letting the door shut behind them.

*******

The sun coming through the curtains woke Rey up the next morning. She moaned and nuzzled further into Ben’s warm naked chest, pulling her leg further over him. She could hear Ben’s breath hitch as he woke up. She looked up to see Ben wrinkle his nose as he slowly opened one eye at a time. His hair was all over the place but he looked down at her and gave her a dazzling smile.

“Morning sunshine,” Ben said, pulling his arm tighter around Rey, “how are you feeling?”

“I should let you know now that I am not a morning person,” she said nuzzling closer into him “But we should do this more often.”

“The cuddling thing or the sex thing?”

“Both,” Rey laughed. “Both would be ideal.”

“I’d have to agree with you there.”


End file.
